Long embroiled in legal issues, this unique collaborative project is now a posthumous official release following this year's tragic suicides of both Mark Linkous, aka Sparklehorse, and contributor Vic Chesnutt. With a cast (everyone from David Lynch to Iggy Pop) reading like a fantasy pop group, Gruff Rhys brings trademark wistfulness to the gorgeous Just War, while the Julian Casablancas-sung Little Girl could be a 21st-century Doors. The Flaming Lips capture the album title's mood on the stunning Pink Floydy Revenge, although elsewhere – especially on Pop's gloriously vamped-up Pain – things sound more playful than haunted. Indeed, it's both comforting and sad to hear the audible fun involved in making this record. Still, it's hard to hear Chesnutt's goofy Grim Augury or writer-producer Linkous stepping into the vocal booth for the sublime Daddy's Gone without mourning the loss of two gigantic talents.